It's D(eparture)-Day for G(reat)R(oad)T(rip)2014

The car is packed, all the other various and sundry things one needs to do before traveling have been done, and I'm ready to start the journey. California awaits, as do Oregon and Washington, with a little Arizona thrown in for good measure.

I travel with very little planning ahead. I know the dates I need to be in classes, but those are the only known reservations I make for myself. I never know what whim will take me where. I know what I think I'm going to do, but I don't really know where I'll stop till I get there. It's fun traveling this way.

I suspect this will be the last of my really long road trips ("really long" meaning more than a few weeks), so I'm hoping to document more than usual. Instagram (gwrigley) will become a part of this trip - follow me there, if you wish. There are a few places in California I want to see but have not yet: Bodega Bay, the Redwoods and Sequoias just to name a few. Yosemite will probably have to wait for it's own dedicated trip since I don't do icy roads. There are also some places I'd like to revisit because I want to see more (Hearst Castle) and others I'll revisit because they are too spectacular to miss (Big Sur).

This country is beautiful, with just about everything you can imagine offered somewhere in the 50 states. Don't sell her short: do yourself a favor & see more of her. She'll fill you with awe.

Thanks for stopping by!

Finished

This just needed the binding, but now it's FINISHED! Woohoo!

I left this quilt at Cinnamon's while I'm away. It's made from mostly batiks with a few other fabrics tossed in for the right flow of color.  It was fun to make.

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A Little Sewing Time Today

I'm trying to get this top done before I leave for GRT2014 on Wednesday. 

 It's ready for borders, then it will be a top. Right now it's 60" x 70". It'll go to the new Children's Ranch, so it needs to be a bit longer.  The borders will fix that.  

This is another go-to pattern for me. It was a freebie, and makes up really nicely when utility quilts are needed.

Other than this bit of sewing, the day was filled with packing, cooking, getting the cargo carrier onto the car, loading stuff into the car.... You know ..... Getting-ready-to-travel stuff. I'm feeling pretty excited! Stay tuned for travel adventures.

Thanks for stopping by.

First top of 2014

This  will be transferred to the appropriate page when I get to the computer.  Can't figure out how to get to pages on mobile blogger.  Anyway, this top is done. I don't have a good location inside the house to take photos, so ignore the other detritus hanging about the edges.  

Today's progress

I've been working on this for the last two days.

I laid it out on the design wall while back, and am finally picking it up to "get 'er done".  

When I lay out on the design wall, I start folding into rows & columns (think "excel spreadsheet"), and label. Then I can come back to the project when the spirit moves me.

Stacked - see the clip on the right? That tells me that is the seam side - sew those edges together

Labels for columns, so I'll know which one goes where

I managed to get this far before I just couldn't sew anymore.

Just 3 more borders then it will be a top. Yay! First one of 2014.

Meanwhile, these little cutie patooties made it to the "finished" column. They needed only the button on top, but that meant they were still UFOs. Now these little guys (12 of them) are DONE! Woohoo! These are for a gift swap we'll do in one of my classes at Empty Spools.

And that's what I've been up to. Thanks for stopping by.

Therapy Sewing

Just another "living life" day. It rained all day again (sure beats the heck out of shoveling snow, though!), so I had time to play.  Sometimes I don't want to work on any specific project, so I sit down for a little therapy sewing. I decided to make some 16-patches for the Parts Department. (When quilting, one can never have too many parts waiting for just the right project!!)

Start with some 1.5" strips, about 8" long. Sew them together into groups of 4.

Now chop 'em up again, back into 1.5" strips.

Put those pieces into groups of 4, then put 'em back together again.

Yes, quilters are crazy. We take perfectly good pieces of fabric, cut them up into little pieces, rearrange them, then sew them back into big pieces of fabric. But hey, it's great therapy!

The photo of the day has been added on the CY365 tab.

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Things I made today

My days are like most people's: some are interesting, others are just living life. The first day of 2014 was a "living life" day for me. I did a lot of stuff, but nothing worth writing about. Besides normal homecare chores, here's what I made.

These little blocks are called "fractures" now, I think.  I was just working through the scrap basket. No plans (yet) for these babies. They're just 3.5" square. I'll just dink around with scraps until I have enough to do something.

Rachel Ray's quick pickles

- during - 

done

Roasted Root Vegetables - parsnips, gold beets, rutabagas, onions, carrots, garlic

the gold beets were the tastiest

I also "made" a huge pile of clean laundry. 

In an effort to learn to take decent photographs, I've joined the "Capture Your 365" group. One photo a day, with a prompt to get me going. I'm starting another page for that project. See the tabs (up top) if you're curious about how I interpret the prompt.

Just a "living life" day, but it sure was productive. Thanks for stopping by!